Chaos Rising
by Dark Maria
Summary: Part Three of Fair Winds of Cybertron. The alliance of Autobots and Decepticons is broken, and Unicron draws near. As a familiar face returns, all hope seems lost. Is this the end? Or is salvation closer than they think? Read and review, please.
1. Dealing with the Devil

-1Here's the start of the next part of the trilogy I'm writing…

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Chaos Rising

The planetary defense grid detected him first and all eyes stared up at the image on the screen. It was him all right, looking just as he always had and not a scratch on him. Megatron growled at the sight. _"Starscream_…_"_Zephyr just shook her head. "Things are just getting weirder and weirder… How is he alive, much less out here? He died on Earth, and that's a _really_ long distance to travel!" Optimus nodded. "It is certainly a mystery, Zephyr, but we can't let that distract us at the moment, we need to be on our guard." An ensign spoke up. "Negative energy readouts on the weapons systems… they're offline. He's… transmitting a request to land?" Optimus and Megatron both looked to the ensign and then up to the screen in shock. The Autobot spoke up first. "Let him land, let us see what Starscream has to say, seeing as he's supposed to be dead." Zephyr just nodded at that. "Couldn't hurt, I suppose. And I'd _really_ like some answers."

Optimus, accompanied by Megatron and Zephyr, stepped out onto the landing. "What do you want?" Starscream, who had been waiting in the hallway for their arrival, smiled up at them, taking a step forward. "My glorious master, Unicron, has sent me here to offer you a chance of survival," he stated simply. One of the three merely sneered at him. "Survival, huh? Whose, yours?" Megatron growled. Optimus kept him back with an arm out. "What is the offer?" Starscream replied simply, "Give us what we desire and he shall spare your planet." Giving him an odd look, Optimus had one question. "…And what, pray tell, does he desire?" Starscream didn't even pause. Raising one hand, he pointed at the object of his master's desire. _"Her,"_ he said, his voice hard and cold. This, naturally, didn't go over too well, and that was putting it mildly. "_Over my dead body, _you incompetent excuse for a Decepticon," Megatron cursed, trying to get at him and give him the beating of a lifetime. Once again his brother kept him from outright attacking Starscream. _"No deal,"_Optimus cut in, pretty much summing up everyone's feelings at that point. Zephyr had been thoroughly shocked by Starscream's words, and she kept silent. Starscream stepped backward at the sheer force behind the refusal. Megatron wanted _very badly _to tear him up into little pieces, and he knew it. "…Very well. I will convey your refusal to my master."

It was then that Zephyr found her voice. "Wait!" she called suddenly, reaching out after him. "Starscream… how are you alive?" The target of her attention grinned up at her, hatred, malice and evil intent fairly radiating from him. He wanted her dead, wanted it so badly that even _she_ could almost taste it… "After your _husband_ murdered me, Unicron saw fit to restore me to life. Such is his power." This shocked the absolute heck out of the lot of them. "…But only the All Spark and Primus have the ability to give and take life," Optimus said. Starscream only chuckled at that. "So does my master." The Lord High Protector, for his part, could think of only one thing to say. "But that's impossible!" Megatron blurted, fully aware that he didn't sound very smart or dignified in that moment. An evil laugh came as Starscream spread his arms as if to say 'look at me'. "Yet here I stand." Having had quite enough of this, Megatron growled and finally got free of his brother. "Megatron, _wait!_" Optimus called after him, but it was too late. He swiped at the resurrected Decepticon with his claws, fully intending to remove his head from his shoulders. Just before the hit would have connected there was a flash of light and Starscream disappeared, only to appear on the other side of the room. "You haven't changed," he sneered. "But _I_ have." Megatron growled in sheer frustration. _"Curse you, Starscream_…_"_The Decepticon in question chuckled again. "My master wants the girl, Megatron… And my master _always_ gets what he wants!" It was then that, having had quite enough of the resurrected Decepticon's attitude, the Autobot leader took a stand. "Well, I hope he can get used to disappointments," Optimus said and pointed his gun at Starscream. "Now get out of here before I blast you. You will not lay a hand on Zephyr, not while myself or Megatron are around," he said, determined like no one else had seen him. Starscream merely sneered. "A word of warning to you all. She doesn't necessarily have to be _alive _to satisfy his desires!" He vanished like the ghost he seemed to be… but not before whipping his own gun out and taking a potshot at Zephyr. _**"EEK!" **_There was a loud clang and a yelp as she dived to the ground, the shot passing close enough to singe her armor. _"Zephyr!" _Megatron called and ran over to her.

"Are you all right?" he asked, looking at the singed armor. "Of all the things that could have happened at that point, I think that one was the least expected," she said, wincing slightly at the burn. Megatron gave a slight chuckle. "Indeed," he said and helped her up gently. Zephyr tried to hide her fear and uncertainty in humor. "Same old Starscream," she quipped. "Temper and all." Megatron smiled down at his beloved and kissed her gently on the forehead. "You are so brave." She embraced him, stifling a soft whimper as the movement aggravated her burn. He held her back and cradled her, being as careful as he could with her burns as he brought her into the repair bay. "Ah, yes, I was expecting my best patient to be coming in here today," Ratchet said with a sigh, turning away from some papers. A small, demure smile crossed her face. "Allow me," she said softly. Ratchet looked at her for a moment, blinking. "Allow you what?" he asked, and he soon got his answer. Closing her eyes, she reached up to touch her burn. A small amount of blue fire came forth and the burned metal seemed almost to flow like liquid mercury, reshaping itself in just a few seconds. "…I've been practicing," she said softly. Ratchet smiled. "Well, now, that's going to put me out of my job," he said sarcastically. She shook her head. "This far, I can only do that for slight damage, like that burn. But I hope to get stronger and maybe lessen your workload a bit…?" Ratchet laughed. "Yes, that would be nice, maybe I can get that vacation I've always wanted for a millennium." He smiled at her. "I am sure you'll grow stronger, Zephyr." She smiled back, still a little bit disconcerted by Starscream's arrival and the revelation that Unicron wanted her. "She's free to go," Ratchet nodded to Megatron, who in turn nodded back and headed out of the repair bay with her in tow. "And since when do you have practice time?" he asked with a smile. Her smile died. "…In between my nightly 'sessions' with Galvatron." This made Megatron's smile turn into a frown. "I see." She went quiet. Did she really want to tell him the rest? Did she want him to know that there had been several occasions where that power had been the only thing to keep her from death? "I think you should take a rest for a little while, you seem to need it," he said with a small smile. Subdued, her cheerfulness banished utterly by the memory of Galvatron, she just nodded. Megatron tilted his head and wondered what was wrong, but he dared not ask since it felt like the wrong time to do so.


	2. Attempted murder

-1Entering her room, she sat down on the bed and sighed heavily. Everything just seemed to be going down the tubes. Was all hope lost? "God… or Primus… either one, really. Please help us all. What are we to do?" A flicker of red light emanated from behind one of the storage closets. _"What the_…_?" _She stared for a long moment. "…Great, now I'm seeing things." The door burst open and there stood Starscream, smiling wickedly. "Oh, you only _wish_ you were seeing things." She leapt to her feet._ "Starscream!"_ A momentary thought crossed her mind that she sounded pretty stupid in that moment. Taking advantage of her surprise, he walked over to her and cupped her chin in his fingers. "Now, you nasty little thorn in my side, it is time for you to die," he hissed, grinning evilly as he brought out his cannon and aimed it at her head. She merely smiled as her blue highlights came to life and she spoke the same words as she had so many times before. _"Stand down weapons." _He went to shoot her but his cannon shut down. "Slag," he cursed and put it away, grabbing a knife instead. "Now, where were we?" Anger filled her. _"_…_Screw you!" _she snarled, slipping back into speaking like the human she had once been, the human she still was at heart. She would have reached out over the link but the link was being blocked. "What in the…" Starscream grinned at her. "That would be my master blocking your link to Megatron. Yes, I know about it." He laughed cruelly at the look on her face. "Help isn't coming, Zephyr. You're alone." Her eyes narrowed in defiant anger as her whip extended. "I'm not that weak little girl anymore, Starscream. _I can fight my own battles!_"

Starscream smiled as he ducked her whip and delivered the first and last blow with expert hands, deftly sliding the blade between two plates of her chest armor. Everything slowed down as energon squirted everywhere, a scream of pain and fear coming from her, and Zephyr fell backwards onto the bed, sprawled out for all the world to see. "Weak little girl or not, even on your best day you could _never_ match me in a straight fight." He laughed and licked her energon off the knife, savoring the taste and soon hearing the door burst open, a familiar voice saying his victim's name. Megatron had come. "So… _nice_ of you to join us," the knife-wielding intruder smirked. _"Starscream!" _Megatron bellowed and went to attack the one who not only dared to harm his beloved but also outright _mocked_ him. Laughing triumphantly, Starscream vanished before the other Decepticon could so much as touch him. Thwarted, he roared a loud series of scathing and _extremely_ creative expletives concerning Starscream's creators and the quality of the metal he was made of as others began to appear at the door. Zephyr, for her part, couldn't do much of anything save cling to life. His knife had nicked her main fuel line, and it took every ounce of power the All Spark could give her just to hold off death. For anyone else it would have been the end. The only thing sustaining her was the All Spark.

Ratchet quickly dashed in and cursed as well. "Her main fuel line's been slashed, I have to mend it somehow but I need material." The blue fire hummed frantically along her body, far stronger than any of them had ever seen it before, but it was already beginning to weaken. She was holding out, fighting with everything she had, but this was a fight she knew she couldn't win… "Hurry, Megatron, I need a chunk of your metal," Ratchet said, almost panicking. Megatron looked at the doctor oddly, but obliged and broke off a small chunk of metal, handing it to him and not minding the slight pain. Ratchet melted it over the fuel line and sealed it, beginning to start pumping in energon. Coughing out energon, choking, _drowning_ in it, agony and terror ripping through her in violent shudders, each breath was a desperate struggle. She was practically in convulsions, clutching the bedframe in a death grip so powerful that the metal was bending and tearing under her claws. "Oh no," Ratchet said and tried to hold Zephyr down. The only thought to pass through her mind was that things _really_ didn't look good.

Ratchet and Megatron tried to hold her down, her squirming making it difficult. "It will pass, I'm sure of it," Ratchet told Megatron. Her systems began to register that her energon levels had stabilized and were no longer dropping, so her thrashing eased off. Still she was in bad shape. Ratchet sighed and let Zephyr go. "She's stabilized, so she should be fine for now." Anyone else would have long since died, and both of them knew it. "…For now?" asked Megatron. "Well, she's still in pretty bad shape," Ratchet said, gesturing to the energon-soaked Zephyr.

The link seemed to hum with energy. The last time it had been like this had been before their first real meeting, when he'd been at the ocean's floor and she had been the only thing holding him to life. This felt the same, but the other way around. This time she was relying on him. Megatron felt like he was being drained of strength and his knees buckled. Seeing this, Ratchet caught him and helped him to sit down on the bed beside Zephyr, then quickly scanned him. "Eh, what's this? Your energy levels are decreasing." The pull wavered, decreased in strength. Deep down, Zephyr was fighting it, fighting the very thing keeping her alive because she didn't want to do this to him, even to save her life. Feeling this, Megatron looked down upon Zephyr and saw that she was indeed fighting it. He reached out and gently caressed her cheek. "Do not fight, my darling…" Her reply, when it came, was almost too soft for him to hear it, merely a thought since she had no strength to speak. //'…not even… to save myself…'// Megatron took her in his arms as gently as he could and did something he had never done before… he begged. "Please… do not fight it. I want you to live, Zephyr; and if that means draining me, then _so be it._" As the pull decreased, held in check by her will, so did her vitals. //She couldn't bear to do this. Sure it was for her own survival, but to _hurt_ him like this…// He begged her again. "Zephyr, I would endure any pain for your safety, so please…" The very idea of what she was doing sickened her, as did the thought of her own weakness. //'I'll stand on my own, or not at all!'// Megatron was shocked at this, it made his spark wrench in pain at her words. Did she not need him? Sensing his shock at what she had said, she whispered an explanation. //'To spare you pain… I would gladly die…'// He shook his head, even though he knew she couldn't see. "But we will both die if you do this…" Her control over the link wavered. She couldn't hold it, though she tried. Sensing this, he spoke up again. "Let me give you strength, my darling; there is no reason to fight." Slowly she released her hold on the link, not because she wanted to but because she had no other choice. //'Sorry… for all this,'// she murmured sleepily in her mind. Smiling gently at her sweet, self-sacrificing nature, the nature that had led her to save him in the first place, he reassured her. "It's not your fault." Consciousness was slipping away. She didn't know whether sleep or death awaited her. //'Don't… leave me… Megatron…'// He held her closer as she finally lost consciousness, going limp in his arms. _"Never," _he told her lovingly and meant it with everything he had. There was no response. Her control over the link was gone as what they had was shared between them. Megatron held her close and didn't let go, leaving the others to watch in the background. He didn't care what they did, or said, or thought. All was peaceful. She would live. Starscream had failed.

Ratchet left to give the two of them some alone time, but he reassured Megatron that he would be nearby in case anything happened. Closing the door behind him, he also gave them some privacy. Now it was just Megatron, alone, cradling the unconscious Zephyr in his arms and sharing his very life force with her. Losing her to Galvatron had shown him many things. She was his weakness, this he now knew. He had always despised weakness, especially coming from himself, but he was sort of surprised to find that, in this case, he didn't mind. _I once believed love was weakness, _he thought. _There was a time when I would have considered my love for her a liability, and would have been furious with myself for feeling it. But now_… A small smile crossed his face as he gazed down at where she nestled in his arms. _Now I understand. Love is weakness, and strength, and strength in weakness. We are far stronger together than we could ever hope to be alone. _Another thought came to him, one that had been nagging at the back of his mind for months now. _If things had been different_… _If I _had_ gotten the All Spark that day_… _What would have come afterward? Would I have been happy? _He caressed her cheek again, his smile broadening a bit at the soft sigh of contented pleasure that escaped her as she felt the gentle touch. …_I wouldn't have, _he realized, his smile fading. _Even if I had succeeded, it wouldn't have been enough. I would still have wanted more. _For the first time ever, he realized that he was actually _glad_ he had failed. _This isn't a bad alternative. _Another realization came to him. In a way, he hadn't failed. _I have what I wanted_… _and it turned out to be what I had at the start. Only this time I have someone to share it with. _

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I don't know when the next update might be… or even if there'll be one.


	3. Trouble magnet

-1After a bout of mental constipation, I'm back in business… Solo this time.

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It was quiet in the base… _too_ quiet. Zephyr had mostly recovered, but she was still a little bit weak. More than anything else, she was nervous. Something just seemed _wrong_ somehow… Autobots walked down hallways, through the command center, and came in through doors but it all just seemed like a calm before the storm… Which indeed would be the case as a blast erupted through the base opening, making the planet itself shake. She suppressed a yelp, looking around in surprise. A moment later she was running, looking for the others. Of all the times to have wandered off for some alone time!

Optimus and Megatron came bursting in through the command center entrance. "Status report," ordered Prime. An ensign piped up. "Sir, the Decepticons are attacking, and by that I mean _all_ of them! But for some reason they don't seem to be targeting us. It's like… it's like they're after something else." Megatron's eyes narrowed. "…Something else?"

The ensign attempted to explain. "They seem to be looking for something, sir… They're not attacking anywhere of strategic importance. It's not even a direct attack. They're searching for something… and whatever they're looking for, it's around the canyons." A moment passed. _"Oh!" _the ensign said. "I'm reading weapons fire. Whatever they were looking for, I think they found it… and it's shooting back!" Megatron thought for a moment and froze. "Where is Zephyr?" he half asked half ordered the ensign. The ensign checked the database. "I'm not reading her signal beacon anywhere in the base, sir…" Megatron cursed under his breath and sprinted out of the command center. The ensign turned to Optimus. "Records indicate she filed a flight plan about an hour ago." His voice trailed off. "Destination: the canyons…" Optimus sighed and shook his head. "She _really_ shouldn't wander off while we're in a war…"

The curses she was spewing would have made even the most vulgar being in the galaxy pass out from shock. They'd come out of nowhere and now she was flying for her very life as they chased her. 'Wonderful,' she thought to herself. 'Of all the times to have taken a quick break!' Several shots streaked by her. 'Those were at full power! At this range…' The realization hit her like a brick in the face. //They weren't out to capture her; not this time…// Megatron headed for the canyons. //'Zephyr, where are you?'// he asked through the link. Zephyr's reply came immediately. //'I'm currently over the southern solar collector array on maximum burn, heading straight back. …It's good news/bad news time.'// Her voice wasn't exactly calm when she said the next sentence. //'The good news is you don't have to worry about them trying to capture me like last time…'// Megatron had a bad feeling about what she'd said. //I don't like the way you said that, what do I have to worry about?// The reply came quickly. //'This time they're out to… _**AAGH!!!**_'// Her words dissolved into a scream both physical and mental as a shot struck her wing and sent her into a spiral, trailing thick black smoke. //'_Zephyr!'_// Megatron cried out as he leapt, transforming, into the air and took off like a bullet. Her mental voice was filled with strain as she fought to pull out of the spin and avoid crashing. //'This time… they're out to kill me.'// The majestic aircraft that was Megatron soared beneath her and caught her on his back. _"Not while I'm around," _he stated, his voice hard and sharp with determination. //'Thank you,'// she said a little weakly, trying to use her power to repair herself. Megatron's only response to that was to tell her to hang on. Then he began to swerve in midair, dodging each and every blast and laser sent his way, more for her sake than for his own. Her damaged wing began to regenerate ever so slowly, far slower than it would have if the pain hadn't been interfering with her concentration.

"Are you all right, Zephyr?" Her voice held more than a little pain as he felt her shift slightly where she lay. "…Been better." He was reminded of the night he'd learned of the terrible nightmares that had plagued her back on Earth, right after the war's end. His presence then had ended her suffering… Now would be the same; this he swore. The laser fire intensified, and his dodging grew more and more frantic as the shots came closer and closer each time. It was then that Zephyr realized he'd changed tactics. He wasn't trying to avoid the shots so much as shield her from them. Realizing she was still in jet mode, she very carefully transformed and then realized just how badly off she was. The shot to her wing had translated into a huge crater carved into her back, exposing part of her spark chamber and nearly severing her arm from her body. //This was bad… really bad. How was she even alive?// She could tell that Megatron had felt her realization from the fact that, even though his thrusters were already on maximum burn, he tried to fly faster. "I'm all right, Megatron," she tried to reassure him, keeping the pain from her voice and hating the slight quaver she couldn't hide. She could tell he didn't quite believe it.

A larger flurry of shots drew her attention to the fact that the Decepticons were closing in. "All right," she muttered. "You give me no choice." She tried to move her partially severed arm, but it hung dead at her side, making her wonder why she'd bothered to try moving it. Ignoring the pain, she grabbed her arm and moved it in front of her. Pressing her palms together, she formed her cannon. For a moment she wondered if her good arm could handle its weight since she usually used both arms, but she managed. A second later, the Decepticons backed off and scattered as she opened fire. Her aim was anything but steady, but it was good enough. It also drew Megatron's attention. "Zephyr, what are you…" She spared a moment to glance downward, even though he couldn't see it in his current form, and promptly interrupted him. "_Fly. _Don't worry about it, just fly." A moment later she was firing at the Decepticons again.

At that point she was so out of it that she was actually _surprised_ when she abruptly found herself no longer the only person firing on the Decepticons. No, a good dozen others were letting them have it from various places on the ground, forcing them to back off and end the chase. Now quite safe, Megatron came in for his softest, gentlest landing yet and transformed the instant his cargo slipped off his back to catch her in his arms before she could collapse. And collapse she did, straight into his embrace, her forearms reverting to normal as she did so. Ratchet was already there, having correctly anticipated what the result of Megatron's sudden departure would be, and he immediately got to work. Laying her face down on the floor since there really wasn't much time to be spared for taking her to the repair bay, Megatron made sure she was as comfortable as it was possible to be in that position, then proceeded to attempt to distract her. "Of all the days to have gone off for some alone time," she mumbled. Megatron nodded. "It's understandable in times like these. Still, I wish you'd told me what you were up to. I'd have gone with you!"

She shuddered where she lay, in intense pain; at least until Ratchet administered a painkiller. "Ah," she sighed. "Just what I needed." Without the pain to distract her, she could use her power as she wished. Ratchet backed off in a hurry as she then proceeded to do just that. The brilliant blue fire they had all come to know so well burst forth from her body to repair the damage she had taken, turning what would have been a major operation into a quick little repair job. "…Well, _that_ makes things easier," Ratchet said finally, making those final repairs and leaving her good to go. "In all honesty, I'm surprised that worked," she confessed as she slowly stood up. "I didn't think I was strong enough to manage that yet. Still, I get the feeling I should hold off on using my power for a while. So much for my being useful in this battle, I guess." Megatron placed his hands on her shoulders and drew her close. "Given what your power just did, I could care less."

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Could I get some friggin' reviews here, people?


	4. They're called that for a reason

-1I'm sorry this bit took so long…

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A sudden shout broke the quiet moment, causing the couple to pull apart and shake their heads in mild frustration. Would they never get a moment's peace? The soldier who had called out walked closer. "Megatron, sir, the Decepticons have ceased their attack. Their leader says he wants to speak with you. And Zephyr too, although nobody really knows why." Megatron's eyes narrowed at that. He could guess why. Well, if Galvatron wanted to see Zephyr… His mind whirled with numerous thoughts of the things he wanted to do to his insane, perverted 'son'; at least until Zephyr stepped past him. "All right. I see no problem in listening to what he has to say… at least for a while." Surprised by this, all he could do was stare for a moment. "Zephyr?" Now it was his turn to sound stupid. Quickly shaking it off, he took the lead and headed for where he now realized the guns had fallen silent, Zephyr quietly following no more than a step behind him.

Sure enough, Galvatron was waiting for them. "Father," he said by way of greeting, smirking as he met the other Decepticon's gaze. Though the next words were directed toward Megatron, Galvatron fixed his gaze upon Zephyr as he spoke them. _"Father, I have come for what is mine!" _Zephyr stiffened, recoiling slightly. Megatron barely managed to refrain from stomping over and giving his 'son' the beating of a lifetime. He'd been denied that pleasure with Starscream… Surprisingly, it was Zephyr herself who replied first, her voice and eyes filled with pure, unbridled hatred. "_I belong to no one, _Galvatron." His only reaction was to step closer and give her a predatory smile. "You say that as if you're trying to convince yourself as well as me," he purred. That tone of voice always made her freeze with fear, and this time was no different. "You've been mine since the day that fool Seahawk gave his life in a vain attempt to protect you, Zephyr… you just won't admit it." The sheer _boldness_ of that statement took Megatron aback and Zephyr's fear froze him in place for a moment as Galvatron came closer still. "I took you for my own that day… A part of you will always be mine." Face to face with her, he whispered his next words so she alone could hear them. "Give yourself to me and I'll spare your pathetic little friends. If you refuse, I'll raze this whole planet, kill all your friends and take you anyway. You know my Decepticons are powerful enough to do just that." She stood frozen in memory-spawned fear as he brazenly reached out to slip a hand between her legs. "There, do you see?" His voice, though soft, was triumphant as she shuddered in revulsion at his touch. The sheer boldness of Galvatron's actions froze both Zephyr and Megatron all the more. The fact that he would go this far on enemy ground completely blew their minds. "You are… and have always been… _mine._" The sudden rage that flashed through both of them freed Megatron from the mental prison of disbelief, and he wasted no time in proceeding to pick up and _throw_ Galvatron as if he were no more than a sack of feathers, and a small one at that. _"You shall not have her while I live!" _

The fact that he'd gone so far as to _grope_ her had been more disgusting than anything else, so Zephyr derived an absurd amount of enjoyment from watching the blue Decepticon land on his head. He recovered quickly, and all her amusement vanished as he smirked. "That suits me just fine, Father…" She then realized he'd meant every word he said to her. He truly planned to burn the whole planet to the ground and kill anyone he came across until he got her. It was then that she noticed the condition of the soldiers around her.

The battle had taken a major turn in the Decepticons' favor. _The city's defenses are nearly broken, _she realized. The battered soldiers were exhausted and there wasn't a single Autobot who wasn't damaged in some way. Even Optimus was injured. She could see him there, off to the side, letting his brother handle things since Galvatron didn't want to speak to him. _They're all hurting seriously bad, _she thought. _And the way things are going, they're going to lose. And all the civilians in the city_… _All the children_… The way things stood, the Autobots would most likely lose, and, given what Galvatron had said, the Decepticons would massacre the lot of them, soldier and civilian alike. _So many innocent lives, _she thought. It was then that she realized what she had to do. This was the last thing she wanted, but what other choice was there? _Surrender myself to Galvatron or let this losing battle rage on. What a choice! Is the universe against me or something? _She sighed. It seemed almost unnatural that she should be the focus of so much attention and so many events, but it was all part and parcel of being what she was. _Zephyr, you moron, why are you surprised? War raged unchecked for eons over the power you carry! _A moment of bitter regret filled her. _Why, oh why, did I pick up the Shard that day? I should have just let it lie. Then someone else would be here, facing this decision_… She cast another look over the ranks of wounded and tired Autobots. _They're soldiers. They knew the risk when they took the job. But the people in the city are civilians. They aren't involved, but the Decepticons will kill them anyway. And the children_… And with that the choice was made; indeed, all thought of there even _being_ a choice faded from her mind. _I'll do it for the children. _Turning, she walked over to where Megatron stood.

Though she tried to hide her uncertainty in a smile, the look in her eyes gave her away. "Zephyr, what is wrong?" Her voice was soft. "…It's nothing." She paused a moment before speaking again, her words confusing… and chilling. "No matter what happens, know that I will always love only you." He would have stopped her, asked her what was going on, had she not chosen that moment to wrap her arms around him and kiss him deeply. It took a moment for him to get over being surprised, but he wrapped his arms around her as well. //'Megatron, Galvatron told me that he will spare everyone if I give myself to him. Please forgive me.'// Even over the link, that unmistakable tone of command came through loud and clear. //_'Stasis lock,'_// she said, her voice resounding like the tolling of a bell, those two words filling his mind. //'Zephyr, _what_…'// That was all as he abruptly collapsed into her arms, having gone into stasis lock just as she had wished. Gently laying him on the ground, she made sure he would be comfortable upon awakening and gave him one last kiss. Her next words were solely in his deactivated mind, but she knew he would hear them upon awakening. //'I'm doing this to save them all… and to save _you._'// She slowly stood up to find herself face to face with a none too happy Optimus. "Zephyr, _what did you do to him?_" Her explanation was simple. "Don't worry, Ratchet can wake him up easily. He's just in stasis lock for the time being. Optimus, Galvatron told me he'll end this battle if I hand myself over. For the sake of the soldiers and everyone in the city, I'm going to do just that." He would have objected to that, and loudly too, had she not cut him off before he could even start. "…Don't make me put _you_ in stasis lock too." All objection died, for he felt he understood. After all, it was what he would have done in her place. "…May Primus watch over you, Zephyr." He could think of nothing else to say, so he left it at that. Though she tried to smile, she couldn't hide the sorrow in her eyes or her voice as she glanced down at where Megatron lay. "Look after him for me, please. I… don't know if he'll understand." He nodded. "I will."

Galvatron's eyes seemed to burn with an animalistic lust as she quietly walked up to him. He'd seen what she had done to his father, and he knew the desperate chance she was taking. "I'm glad I convinced you to see reason, _my_ dear…" It took every ounce of courage and willpower she possessed to not flinch away from his touch. "You said you would spare my friends if I surrendered myself to you…" His voice was low as he roughly drew her to him. "Mine again at last," he purred, for the moment ignoring what she had said. A momentary thought passed through her mind… a realization that she was actually glad that Megatron was out of it for the moment. The thought left her mind in a hurry as Galvatron touched her again, but this time there was no one to stop him.

His smile broadened as she shivered under his touch. Her vulnerability was all but crying out to be exploited in that moment, her beauty begging to be marred… He could almost _hear_ her noble, gentle spark calling to him. 'Corrupt me, destroy me, make me suffer,' it seemed to say. He'd taken her virtue long ago, destroyed her innocence, had very nearly extinguished her spark. _What can I break next? _he wondered. How would he crush her this time? What kind of torture hadn't he tried yet? Oh, how much _fun_ this would be!

She repeated her statement and this time he listened, albeit halfheartedly. "Ah yes, your friends…" He abruptly tightened his grip on her, his claws puncturing her armor and digging deeply into the vulnerable area beneath, drawing a soft, whimpered cry and a stronger shudder. He chuckled to himself at the pain he knew she was feeling, then cast a quick glance toward the other Decepticons. "Kill them," he ordered. The look of shock in her eyes was utterly priceless to him in that moment. _"But you said_…_"_ It was all he could do not to laugh at her. "And you _believed_ me? Little bunny, you are far too trusting. We're called _Decepticons_ for a reason." The Autobot soldiers tensed. Optimus moved to shield his fallen brother. Ratchet got his own cannons ready.

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I'm sick of having nobody say a word about how this is going! Any suggestions as to how I can make this even better? Anything?

I'll put up the next bit after I get some reviews.


	5. Something wicked this way comes

-1And now, the moment you've all been waiting for…

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What happened next was terrifying, sure, but in it Zephyr saw an opportunity to take action as a vast _something_ loomed into view, rising above the horizon and thrusting its way skyward, blotting out the stars. "Look at the _size_ of that thing," someone said in awe. Though the majority of the battlefield was cast into shadow, there was still enough light to see the gargantuan newcomer. "…A rogue planet?" That was what it seemed to be, but didn't they themselves live upon the only purely metallic planet in all the universe? Such thoughts had apparently just been proven wrong, since the immense planetary intruder appeared to be composed solely of metal as well. Orange and silver, bearing a formidable ring tipped seemingly on its side, its sudden arrival and ominous appearance drew many a gasp from Autobot and Decepticon alike. "Unicron," Zephyr gasped. Her vision hadn't done the monster justice in the slightest. It was then that what appeared to be a comet of brilliant crimson fire came streaking in, seemingly coming from Unicron himself, arcing over the soldiers' heads and heading toward where Zephyr and Galvatron stood to land and resolve into the sleek, jet-based form Zephyr felt she knew all too well as of late.

"Starscream," Zephyr said in mild surprise. The resurrected Decepticon ignored her and turned toward the one standing next to her. "You have done well, Galvatron," he said with a grin. Grinning back, Galvatron approached him. "My master asked that you weaken their defenses for us, and that you weaken _her_ most of all… and you have done so." The Decepticon leader strode closer, eyes shining with greed and anticipation. "And my reward…?" His voice was low, carrying a thinly veiled threat. Starscream nodded. "Ah yes, your reward…" The two were face to face at that point. "You've done what my master required of you. And _that_ means…" The look in Starscream's eyes gave Zephyr the chills. She had a feeling she knew what would come next. _"_…_You've outlived your usefulness!"_ Moving far faster than anyone had ever known him to, Starscream raised his cannon, thrust the barrel up against Galvatron's chest and fired.

The other Decepticons recoiled at the blinding explosion that erupted between the two, and at the cannon's deafening roar which almost drowned out their leader's anguished cry. All eyes, regardless of allegiance, were fixed on the area as the light began to die, save for two… Megatron, who still lay in stasis lock, and Ratchet, who was trying to awaken him. The silvery Decepticon stirred slightly and gave a soft groan, confused for the moment by the soft words he felt in his dazed mind. _Something's happened_… _I feel it. _His thoughts came slowly. …_'To save us_…_ to save me'? _Memories started to creep back into his mind. _Oh no_… With them came dread. _Zephyr, what have you done? _His eyes opened to behold Ratchet's face hovering over him. The Autobot smiled down at him, more than a little tension visible in his eyes. "Normally I'd be telling you to take it easy for a while, but I'm afraid we don't have time for that." Somewhat dizzy, Megatron sat up and looked around. The sound of Starscream's cannon sent a chill straight to the very core of his spark, a chill that swiftly metamorphosed into a moment of utter horror as he turned to behold her recoiling from both Starscream and Galvatron as a brilliant blast erupted between all three. _"Zephyr!" _He bolted to his feet, all dizziness gone, sprinting forward as best he could as the force of the explosion caused her to topple over backwards, praying that she wouldn't suffer too severe damage… A prayer that he soon found had been answered as she fell rather lightly into his arms. She was perfectly fine, after all; just startled halfway out of her wits by the suddenness of Starscream's actions. He wanted to do so much in that moment… yell at her, slap some sense into her, shake her violently and demand to know what she'd been thinking, hold her close and thank Primus she was all right… But there was no time for any of that. Such became obvious the moment he looked at the sky. He didn't have to say anything and the link was utterly unnecessary in that moment. "…Yes," Zephyr said. "That's Unicron." Both of them stared up at the sky for a moment, and what was in the sky, unconsciously drawing closer together as they did so.

The quiet moment ended swiftly as Starscream took off laughing into the sky, and the sky began to fill with ominous flashes of red light that seemed almost to outnumber the stars. Each flash swiftly died down and took a recognizable shape… that of a winged mechanical insect with glossy stripes and a formidable stinger. None of them, save for Zephyr, had seen anything like these new beings. In her human life she had seen bees and wasps aplenty, and they resembled what she was seeing now. A word came to her, a word used for the legions of bees who defended a hive, but in this case the hive seemed to be Unicron himself… _"Drones!" _she screamed to the empty air. Her cry pushed Megatron into action. Scaling the ruins of a partially demolished one-story building, he got to where everyone on the battlefield could see him and shouted out as loud as he could. _"Autobots! Decepticons! Listen to me!" _They all turned at the sound of his voice, a beacon of familiarity in the midst of all the sudden chaos and strangeness. _"This newcomer will destroy us all if he can. Our only hope of survival is to work together!" _Both sides looked at each other, and then up to the swarming drones, then back to each other before nodding as one. The alliance was on again… and it had only taken a few words from Megatron to make it happen. Zephyr smiled. Now she felt she had an idea of how he had been able to get so many willing followers back in the days when he'd sought the All Spark's power.

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Seriously, only three reviews? How discouraging!

I have a twist in store, but if this doesn't start getting more attention I may just give up. Was 'Sins of the Father' really THAT bad?


	6. I am what was made of me

-1This ought to answer a few questions.

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A low, wavering, pain-filled groan came from off to the side, quickly dissolving into a feeble series of wet, hacking coughs. Zephyr turned to look, and there she beheld Galvatron lying in a fairly large pool of his own energon, just barely on hands and knees, curled up around the huge hole Starscream's point-blank shot had punched in his chest. He shifted slightly as she watched, shuddering as another coughing fit ripped through him, spraying more energon on the ground. Listening closer, she could hear the faint words he uttered between fading gasps for air. "…Curse you, Unicron… Curse you…" He made an extremely weak attempt to get up, but didn't even manage to raise his head. "…S-said… if I…" His claws would have dug furrows into the ground if he'd still had the strength to do so. "…Stop him… H-have to… stop him…" Another, weaker shudder ran through him. His remaining lifespan could apparently be counted in minutes… or seconds.

She was moving before she knew it, walking closer and kneeling down despite the pool of energon, grasping Galvatron's shoulder and rolling him onto his back. There was no resistance to that action, no real response to her touch save for the fact that he squinted up at her for a moment before voicing his recognition with a thickly gurgled attempt at saying her name. She just nodded gravely. A feeble, wavering chuckle escaped him, followed by more coughing. "…S…seeing me… like this… You must… be glad." She didn't know what to say in response to that. Part of her was indeed glad, after what he'd done, but she couldn't be so cruel as to admit it to someone during their last moments of life… He saved her the trouble of replying. "…Don't have… to say anything. I… already know…" The faint smile he wore faded. "You hate me." Now she had a dilemma on her hands, as well as a dying Decepticon. She could let him die, and no one would miss him. Most would rejoice, after what he'd done. On the other hand, she could save him. He would undoubtedly want to fight Unicron now, and with him in control of things none of the Decepticons would dare break the alliance until the battle ended. And besides…

Being surprisingly gentle, she took his limp hand in her own. Struggling to focus on her, his vision finally beginning to fade to black, his mouth moved soundlessly as his voice failed. He wanted to ask her why, why she was bothering with him after what he'd done, but there was no more time. No more… anything. But somehow, with her there, it didn't seem so bad now. He didn't understand why, such thoughts had long since faded from his dying mind, but in the growing darkness she seemed to shine all the brighter, brilliant blue lightning cascading over her and burning in her eyes. The darkness abruptly ceased its advance upon him as life-sustaining power began to flow between them. Awe filled his dazed mind as he beheld her shining like the sun, her very presence holding off death. He slowly began to become aware that he was more than seeing her… no, he felt her in his mind. //'Yes,'// her voice rang in his mind. //'For the moment, our minds are linked.'// Something deep inside him reacted to her voice, and to the light, reaching out to it, trying to draw closer, to become part of it… All of a sudden he became aware of a third presence, and that third presence became aware of him. Moving swiftly, it drew between him and the light as if to protect it from him. //_'You just stay away from her, Galvatron_…_'_// He hadn't known that Zephyr and Megatron shared a telepathic link… but now, in this moment, he was part of it, linked to both of them. Glancing at what he now knew was Megatron, he could see love for Zephyr burning in his spark, a raw, untamable passion like an open flame… as powerful as a raging wildfire and as vast as outer space. And he understood. Love wasn't what he had thought it was… at least where his 'father' was concerned. His love for her hadn't weakened him; no, in fact it was quite the opposite. If anything, it had strengthened him. He would do whatever it took for her safety, would storm the very gates of the Pit for her, would gladly take on any enemy and never once worry about the consequences. And the sheer _power_ Zephyr was displaying! He couldn't call her weak anymore… not physically, or mentally. _I threw everything I had at her, and yet her spark shines as radiantly as ever. And for her to save me, after what I did to her_… He didn't understand it, but on some level he found it deeply moving.

As he saw her, so she saw him, and what she saw in him changed everything. His spark lay trapped in a cage of programming, his very thought patterns and personality laid out and forced upon him. Any choices other than the ones his 'father' would have made while evil had been denied him, in that his programming didn't allow him to even conceive of there being a choice in the matter. But that wasn't the part that hit her hardest. Linked to him, she could sense his feelings. He would have been totally different had he not been created as Megatron's successor… A great deal of his madness came from the fact that the programming that had been forced upon him clashed with his hidden true nature. As if that wasn't bad enough, another surprise came to light. Buried beneath the madness, almost drowned out by the clashing of addled, fractured thoughts… was love. In his own twisted way, he genuinely loved her. He believed love could be taken by force. In his warped mind, that was a perfectly acceptable way to love someone… and it wasn't as if he really knew what love was, beyond the drive to want to own her, to claim her as his. Reaching out, she swept the programming aside, seeking to end the pain that drove him more relentlessly than any form of evil ever could. _I don't hate him anymore,_ she realized. _I _can't_ hate him. He could never have been anything other than what he is._

Was this death after all? The pain was gone… all of it. And not just the shot he'd taken in the chest; Starscream's attempt to kill him… No, the inexplicable hurt he'd always felt inside, even from the moment of his activation, the sense of conflict, of wrongness inside him… That was gone. Thinking back on his past deeds, he could see a whole galaxy of choices arrayed around each and every action he'd taken, choices he hadn't even realized he'd had. He felt… free. _This has to be death, _he thought. //'It isn't, Galvatron.'// Her voice came to him again. //'You're going to be all right.'// For the moment completely disconnected from reality and all things physical, all he could do was try to use the link to speak to her. //'Wh-why?'// That single word was all he could manage for his first attempt, but he swiftly tried again. //'Zephyr, why? Why save me?'// The only reply he got was a swift return to reality, whole and undamaged, no longer near death and ready to fight.

"I did it because I'm not like _you,_" she said as he slowly, carefully stood up, wincing in disgust at the energon he'd been lying in… he knew it was his own. It was only then that he realized that a battle was raging all around them both. Megatron and Starscream were locked in a truly epic battle as Autobots and Decepticons alike battled side by side against the seemingly endless swarm of drones. The Autobots were following Optimus's lead but the Decepticons weren't nearly that organized, even though Megatron was trying his hardest. They were largely ignoring him. "Your comrades need you," Zephyr said. Wasting no more time, he nodded sharply and ran to the other Decepticon's side. "Allow me, Father," he said. "Go fight alongside Zephyr." If Galvatron wanted to fight Starscream, that was fine by him. Megatron didn't bother replying, seeing as the drones were getting too close to her for his comfort.

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I'll bet nobody expected THAT…


	7. Allies once again

-1And the battle rages on…

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Zipping to the side, the buzzing drone dodged her shots even as its brethren exploded and died around it, working its way closer even as she started using her whip as well. Then it was upon her, slamming into her chest hard enough to send her flying onto her back. _"No!" _Its six legs dug into her sides even as she returned the favor with her own claws in an attempt to throw it off. Snapping mandibles were mere inches from her face as its razor-edged wings beat against her hands, each flap slicing deeper and deeper as it arched its stinger forward, preparing to stab it into her chest… She'd seen what that stinger could do, had watched the caustic venom corrode the insides of an unfortunate Decepticon until his armor crumpled like tinfoil. Her hands were slick with her own energon, caused by repeated cuts from the beating wings. Any minute now she'd lose her grip and those mandibles would be within reach of her face. As if that wasn't bad enough, the drone's legs were digging deeper and deeper into her sides, slender hooks easily sliding between plates of armor to reach vulnerable insides… She could abruptly taste her own energon. The hooks had pierced something inside her, probably a fuel line or something given how it had abruptly become almost impossible to breathe. Her hands were very slick now, she could feel herself slowly starting to lose her grip. Which would come first, the stinger or the mandibles? In truth it would be neither, as a pair of silvery hands abruptly seized the drone and ripped it off her. _"How _dare_ you hurt her_…_!" _Megatron's eyes blazed wrathfully as he dug his claws in and ripped the drone in half, then tossed it aside.

Several Autobots whose names she didn't know laid down a covering fire to keep the drones away as Megatron knelt beside her and helped her up. "Zephyr…" Energon-stained lips curved in a smile as she gazed at him, a smile that died as she looked down at herself and realized she was a mess. Her battle against the drones had taken her away from the pool of energon Galvatron had left, so why was she standing in a second one? _It's all mine, _she realized abruptly. Indeed, the life-giving fluid was pouring from her sides, cascading down her legs to form a growing puddle beneath them both. And her hands… Not only were her hands coated in the stuff, but now his were as well since her hands were in his. "I'm sorry," she said… or tried to say, before she choked on the energon flooding her insides and was sent into a coughing fit so powerful that she would have been sent to her knees if not the floor but for Megatron being there for her. For a few absurdly long seconds reality seemed to fade away. There was only the sound of wet, desperate coughs, her body all but convulsing, her eyes closed against the force of it, the sensation of having trouble breathing and the instinctive terror that went with it…

Eventually things settled down, calm descending as her breathing evening out, and she opened her eyes. He was holding her in his arms, supporting her in her moment of weakness. Her head was nestled against his chest, the energon she'd just coughed out marring the silvery sheen… She started to voice another apology, but he cut her off. "It's all right, Zephyr. I know you couldn't help it." She smiled again, and he smiled back. "…Let's get you to Ratchet," he said eventually, not letting go for a moment lest she collapse. This time she didn't put up much of a fuss. She needed Ratchet's help, and she knew it. In fact, she could feel another coughing fit coming on… This time it was weaker, and so was she. It was still so hard to breathe, and it took every ounce of willpower she had to beat back the stark, unreasoning terror that simple fact brought on. She'd never been comfortable with that. From her earliest childhood the slightest impediment to normal breathing would send her into a panic, and the fact that she was no longer human changed absolutely nothing. And to have this happen because of fluid inside her; to realize that she was _drowning_… This was almost more than she could bear. _No, I won't panic, I refuse to panic, I'm not going to panic even though I can't breathe, oh god, oh Primus, help me, I can't _breathe… She just barely realized she'd lost control of her fear before she felt herself being laid on the ground and heard Megatron's frantic voice shouting for Ratchet. Now no amount of coughing could help her, her insides were well and truly flooded. She barely registered the fact that she was in convulsions, and that she would have been desperately clawing deep gouges in her chest and throat were it not for the firm, restraining grip Megatron had on both her wrists. His voice resounded in her whirling mind. //'Zephyr… Zephyr!'// Focusing on his presence, she did her level best to push the fear away, but it would not be tamed, nor would it be silenced. //'Just hang on, Zephyr. Everything's going to be all right.'// She just barely managed a nod, her convulsions having weakened to the point where she merely shivered. Ratchet's face came into her hazy field of view and she gave him an apologetic look. _I'm sorry, _she wanted to say. _I'm sorry I'm making more work for you, I'll pay you back somehow, I promise_…

A simple patch-up job was all it took to stop the flow of energon. Calm began to descend upon her as her breathing evened out. She immediately began to curse at herself for panicking like she had. She wasn't human anymore, dang it; she was willing to bet that her new, nonhuman form didn't need air as badly as humans did. "She'll be all right now," she heard Ratchet tell Megatron. "She lost a lot of energon, though, so I think she's out of this fight." Neither of them had been expecting her to speak up, but she did. "No," she said in a soft yet determined voice as she slowly, carefully stood up. "I'm all right. I have to be." She wavered slightly, weakened by the energon loss as Ratchet had predicted, and Megatron caught her before she could fall. "…All right, maybe I'm not in peak form." Turning in his arms, she looked up at the drone-filled sky. "But I can't just sit back and let others fight. I have to help them." Ratchet would have throttled her for being a fool if he hadn't been afraid of what Megatron would then do to him. "Zephyr, that patch is meant to buy time, not get you back in the fight. Too much activity could break it and then where would you be?" Seeing his point, she nodded. If the patch broke it would probably mean death. "But there _has_ to be something I can do against those things…" Swiftly turning, she scaled the ruins of a small building, the same one Megatron had attempted to rally everyone from, and surveyed the battlefield. Abruptly she noticed a pattern in the movements of the drones, and the realization startled her. An instant later she found herself leaping into the air and transforming to circle the battlefield in her jet mode, dodging drones all the while. _"Everyone! Listen to me!" _Those that could turned to look up at her, and those who couldn't merely glanced up. _"We have to stand our ground! They're trying to herd us all together so the giant planet thing can take us out with one shot!" _All retreating ceased as each and every combatant switched from backing away to holding their position. Starscream left his battle with Galvatron and soared up in an attempt to meet her in midair, but she swiftly ducked back down to land beside Megatron. The resurrected Decepticon didn't dare follow. "That takes care of that," she said, "In more ways than one. Well, we don't have to worry about getting taken down that way. But… now what? Is there an endless supply of those things?" Starting to pace in agitation, she tried to think. "There has to be a way we can win this… a way we can turn the tide!"

That was when it struck her again, the strangeness that had happened right after her first vision of Unicron… Her own power turned on her. This time everyone saw the light dance upon her head like a tiara of lightning and stars, saw her momentary expression of surprise before all awareness left her. "I hear something," she murmured. "It's… calling me?" She dropped to her knees as the power died away again. "Well, _that_ was odd…" Once again Megatron was by her side almost instantaneously, helping her up. "You said something was calling to you…" She nodded. "There's something down in the planet's core that can help us win this fight. Don't ask me what it is, or how I know this, because I haven't got the slightest clue. All I really know is that some unknown power is summoning me down to the planet's core." He thought on that for a moment, then nodded. "I'd say let's go for it, especially since we haven't got any better ideas." She just looked at him for a moment. "…I'm coming with you, of course. If Unicron has the slightest clue about what you're planning, he'll probably send the drones and Starscream to stop you. I promised to protect you and that's exactly what I'm going to do!" The last thing either of them expected was for someone else to chime in. _"I'm coming with you too!" _The two of them turned as one to behold Galvatron striding closer with a sort of solemn grace, no madness in his eyes, his insane smirk replaced with a quiet dignity no one had thought he possessed. "Especially if Starscream is going to be there. I've got a score to settle with him." Zephyr nodded. "All three of us, then. I only hope the others can hold out long enough…"

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What force calls to Zephyr? Why is she being summoned to the planet's core? Does salvation rest beneath their feet?

All this and more will be made clear soon enough!

Read and review, people.


	8. Flight of desperation

-1Here's the next chapter. You wanted more action, you got it!

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"Zephyr, if this call you're feeling is all it's cracked up to be, you should at least be able to tell us where it's coming from. Galvatron and I will protect you every step of the way, but the rest of it is up to you. Now tell us… Where do we go from here? How do we get to the core?" Zephyr slowly turned around in a circle as they watched, trying to get a feel for the call's source. "The crater," she eventually said. "The place where I regenerated the planet. The place where I…" She cut off as she met Megatron's gaze. The unfinished sentence seemed to hang in the air between them. _The place where I died._

"The crater, huh?" Galvatron cut in. "In that case I guess it's a good thing that it isn't too far from here… Over that way, I presume." He pointed off to the side before adding, "Dare we try flying there?" Hearing that suggestion, Zephyr shook her head. "If you want to be the only thing flying besides a sky full of drones, be my guest. But me, I'm taking no chances on being visible in the air. I already got shot down once today, and I have _no_ desire to do it a second time." Seeing the logic in her statement, Megatron nodded. "Good point. I'd say just plain running is our best bet." Wasting no more time, all three of them took off running, hoping to lose themselves in the narrow canyons surrounding the city and pass beyond the sight of that terror in the sky…

Zephyr ducked behind a building, followed quickly by Megatron and then Galvatron. Slumping down to sit on the ground for a moment, Zephyr tried to calm down. Galvatron peeked around the corner. "I don't think it saw us," he said. Zephyr sighed in relief. "That's good, but let's keep our guard up." Getting up, she looked in the direction they planned on going and realized something. "Wait a minute… Aren't we heading in the direction of the city?" Megatron nodded. "Indeed we are. This raises a question. Do we go _around_ the city or _through_ it?" Galvatron didn't pause for a moment. "We go through it, of course. It's quicker." Zephyr's head snapped toward him. "But what about all the people in the city? We can't just put them at risk like that! Going around the city might take longer, but it'd be safer!" Galvatron stepped closer. "Oh, you Autobots are all the same! Haven't any of you ever heard the term 'necessary sacrifice'? Zephyr, this is war!" Megatron separated the two. "Much as I never thought I'd say this, Galvatron's right. We have to do this as quickly as possible. If that means going through the city… so be it." Zephyr couldn't believe this. "But what about…" He grabbed her by the shoulders. "Zephyr, _look at me. _They may not know it, but they're part of this, just like all the soldiers on the battlefield back there. We're part of it too. This is one battle no one can help but be part of, and we're all in this together. Until it's through, this whole planet is a battlefield and we're soldiers too. We have to get to the crater, Zephyr; and we have to do it quickly or a lot of people are going to die!" She stopped as his words rang in her mind. Similar words had been spoken before… on Earth, in a city street that had been as much a war zone as the one they stood upon. She bowed her head and whispered words to herself, words she really shouldn't have known. "…No sacrifice, no victory." A moment later she took command. "We go through the city. _Hurry!_"

The city was in lockdown, and she supposed that was a good thing. The streets were empty. "Wow, it's a lot bigger than it looks from the air…" Zephyr felt like they were getting nowhere fast, and still Unicron loomed on the horizon, blotting out half the sky. "I'm feeling very wide open right now…" Galvatron looked back. "You're right, and even this shortcut is taking too long. We wanted to hurry, so why are we running when we should be flying?" Zephyr shrugged at that. "Let's fly, then." All three leapt into the air and transformed. Soon three jets soared down the empty street all in a line, silver, black, and blue. "Good thing this is such a wide street," Zephyr said eventually. "I'll agree with you there," Megatron replied. "Stay low!" The trio navigated the winding streets with pinpoint precision, knowing that anything less would probably either waste time or result in a crash. Stressful as it was, it was nothing compared to what came next.

Dread filled all three of them as the sky began to hum, and then to roar. _"Drones!" _Indeed, those familiar insect shapes were beginning to become visible above the rooftops and down the street they'd just come down. "Great, we don't have time for this…" Zephyr griped. "Forget staying under cover. Why hide when we've been found? Ascend above rooftop level and set thrusters to maximum burn! _Now!_" Wasting no time, they did just that, blasting off on pillars of purple fire even as they rose above the rooftops, forsaking cover and making a beeline for the crater that was their destination. "Don't bother engaging them in the air," Megatron advised. "They've got us on maneuverability. We'll deal with them upon landing." Zephyr scanned behind her. "There appear to be a full hundred of them!" Galvatron chuckled. "Then it should almost be a fair fight… for them!"

The three jets began to descend upon seeing the crater. "Land at the side near that building with mirrors for sides," Zephyr said. "I have no idea how I know this, it's like the information's just popping into my head so I guess I can thank the All Spark for that, but the contours of the crater are such that if we enter there it'll be more like a tunnel than anything else." Nothing else was said about the matter as the trio transformed and landed, then got ready for battle. It was then that they noticed that something was wrong. "They're not attacking," Zephyr said. "It's like they were… tracking us." They all looked to the sky. "Indeed they were," Megatron said as he watched the bright red comet streak their way. Arcing over their heads to come in for a landing between them and their goal, it swiftly reverted into Starscream's familiar form, trailing a menacing cackle all the while. "_Pathetic fools! _Did you really think your actions would escape my master's notice?" All three of them froze. "He has been watching since the moment you first came up with this foolish plan of yours. The drones were merely to track you, and to lead me to you. Now all three of you will die by my hand, as he wishes it!" Megatron stepped forward, and his two comrades followed. "Well, you're right about one thing, Starscream. It's time to end this, once and for all." He looked to Zephyr, who nodded. Galvatron did the same. "Together, then," the blue Decepticon said. Moments later, the battle began.

Moving swiftly, Zephyr darted to the right, her whip extending even as she lashed out with it. Darting to the left, Galvatron mirrored her movement and together they came at Starscream from both sides. The agent of Unicron caught Zephyr's whip and threw her to the side, but Galvatron caught him and lashed his whip across Starscream's back, at which point he spun to punch the blue Decepticon in the face. Megatron lunged with a swipe of his claws, forcing Starscream to teleport off to the side. Zephyr and Galvatron simultaneously whipped out their cannons and opened up on him, at which point he took to the sky. "You know, Megatron, I actually owe my new status to your little girl. Had it not been for her 'corruption', Unicron would have chosen _you_ to be his servant instead of me!" That revelation caused Megatron to take a moment to wholeheartedly thank Primus for the existence of both Sarah and Zephyr. _I don't just owe her my life, _he realized. _I owe her my freedom_… _and my very spark. _Then, leaping up, he transformed to chase Starscream across the sky, filling the air with a flurry of shots meant to force him back down to the ground, where Zephyr and Galvatron awaited him. He took two roundhouse punches to the face almost before he even touched the ground, but he recovered quickly enough to whip out his knife and deal Galvatron a severe gash across his side and forcing him to back off for a moment. Zephyr, for her part, aimed low and lashed out with her whip. As it coiled around his leg she yanked with all her might, tripping him and sending him to the ground. At that moment she spoke a single word. _"Now!" _Before he could stand back up, Megatron transformed in midair and tackled him with all his might. Yowling in anger, Starscream teleported out from under him and got out his gun. At this point Zephyr didn't dare use her power to deactivate it since she wanted as little attention from Unicron as she could get away with. Enraged at Megatron's actions, Starscream focused solely on him and opened fire. He only fired for a few seconds before Zephyr lashed out with her whip. It coiled around his gun and she yanked it away. The shots fired over those few seconds were enough to leave Megatron staggering, but he shook it off quickly. By this point Galvatron had recovered enough to rejoin the fight and he did so, lunging at Starscream from behind even as Zephyr threw the gun she'd stolen as far as she could. Seizing Starscream from behind, Galvatron pinned his arms by his sides, effectively incapacitating him. Zephyr came up beside him and dared a small use of her power, just for a moment, reaching out with her thoughts to disable Starscream's ability to teleport. "Looks like this battle's over," Megatron said with a smile as he strode closer.

"**You fail me yet again, Starscream." **That voice filled the air with a sound very like thunder, and its sheer power seemed to shake the very ground beneath them. All of them cringed from the sound. An odd thought entered Zephyr's formerly human mind, part of a passage from the Bible, the Book of Revelations. …_'And he cried with a great voice, as a lion roars: and when he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices'._ Covering her ears, trembling with fright, she fell to her knees. _This is not the time to panic, _she tried to tell herself. …_This is the _perfect_ time to panic! _the rest of her mind said. _We're talking the end of the world here! At least it's not Earth_… That was when she caught herself. _This isn't Earth! And I'm no mere human! _Those thoughts pushed the fear away. Standing up, she looked at the others. Both Megatron and Galvatron stood frozen like statues, eyes wide with shock and terror as they stared into the sky. "Is something wrong? What are you looking at?" She followed their gazes until she too saw what had frozen them so. Only one response seemed to suit what she was seeing.

Zephyr screamed.

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The Bible, The Book of Revelations 10:3

READ AND REVIEW, DANG IT!!!! I will not add another chapter until I get at least one review for this one.


	9. As I make my final stand

-1Sorry I took so long to update! Thanksgiving Break, you know.

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A pair of impossibly huge arms unfolded from the planet in the sky, seeming to stretch from horizon to horizon, with width and breadth as unimaginable as the intruder's very presence. The rest seemed almost to uncoil in the manner of an unspeakably huge armadillo, a pair of truly mighty legs unfolding as well, followed by a horned head like a Viking's helm. And the _face_… The eyes seemed to shine brightly, twin shards of jade tainted with the phosphorescent green fire she'd seen in her vision, and tainted further with evil intent and purest malice, radiating nothing less than Darkness itself. On first glance she would have deemed the face almost human, but there was something _wrong_ about it; the proportions and contours seemed off, lending a sense of grotesqueness to it, as if it had been made in mockery of the form it tried to imitate. The ring that had encircled the planet that had been there moments before split apart into a pair of skeletal wings like those of a massive bat, and those wings seemed to trail behind the rest of the massive form almost in the manner of a cape, the illusion shattered by the restless twitches of those wings, betraying nothing so much as a sense of pure anger, as if the very existence of the planet before it and the creatures that populated it were an insult to it. _Not it, _Zephyr thought suddenly. _Him._ Unicron himself stood before them, dominating the sky.

All four of them, including Megatron and Galvatron who had both sworn that they feared nothing, recoiled in terror as the great head turned, those jade eyes fixing on them. Zephyr and Megatron couldn't hide feelings of looking Death in the face as jade shifted to red, bathing the lot of them in fiery light. Zephyr found herself untouched, as did Megatron and Galvatron, but their relief at that fact died instantly as Starscream shrieked out in mortal agony. The light didn't touch any of them but it seemed to burn away at him in that moment as if he were no more than a shadow before the breaking dawn, dissolving him into no more than a light powder before dissolving even that powder into nothingness. Red shifted back to green, but Unicron's attention remained on them. One titanic hand stirred, began to rise. Only one thought came to Zephyr in that moment. _**"RUN!"**_

Galvatron sprinted as though his very life depended on it, which would have been a humorous sight had such not been the case. Transforming, Megatron set his thrusters to maximum burn and blasted off. Zephyr skimmed along the ground as fast as she could. A tense microsecond passed as they fairly stampeded into the tunnel they'd flown so fast to reach, only to be thrown to the ground as the gigantic hand that had sought to crush them slammed down on the tunnel entrance. Two expletives and a yelp resounded. Getting back up as fast as possible, they wasted no time in getting their act together and moving on.

"Well, _that_ went about as well as could be expected," Zephyr said as they continued running, paying no heed to the ruckus behind them as Unicron tried ineffectually to reach them. "Easy for _you_ to say," Megatron grumbled. "_You_ weren't the one to hit that wall back there!" Galvatron scoffed at him. "And which of us, pray tell, landed on their face?" All three promptly shut up and thanked whatever god happened to be listening for the fact that they'd come this far with no major damage to any of them. "How far do you think we have to go?" Zephyr shrugged. "Shouldn't be too much further… We need to go through there, where the tunnel narrows. It's a tight squeeze, but we should make it just fine." Indeed, the tunnel got so narrow that they had to go through one at a time. Zephyr went first by Megatron's insistence, at which point he followed, leaving Galvatron for last.

The tunnel behind them began to hum, and then to roar. Turning as one, all three of them beheld a vast swarm of drones pouring down the tunnel from the direction they had just come. "Oh no," Zephyr said. There were too many of them to fight, and they were moving too fast to be outrun. This much was immediately obvious to the lot of them. Megatron looked to her and she to him, both unsure as to what to do next, or even if they stood a chance. Their thoughts were cut short by the sight of Galvatron calmly striding forward to stand between the oncoming drones and the narrow tunnel the two of them had passed through. "Father, take Zephyr and go. I'll hold them here." Megatron stared at him in surprise. "But you'll…" He was promptly cut off. "Father, _please! _If you have any faith in your own strength, or in the strength you gave me, _let me do this!_" Galvatron was mildly surprised when the other Decepticon backed down without a word. Coming up closer, surprising him further, Zephyr laid a hand on Galvatron's shoulder and met his gaze. "Be very careful," she said softly. He responded with a gentle smile, untainted by malice or guile or anything else evil. "I will," he replied in a voice so gentle as to almost be sweet.

The two took off running towards their goal, Zephyr casting a look behind her in concerned regret for having to leave him like that. Turning away, Galvatron readied whip and cannon as he took up his chosen position, using his own body to block the tunnel his comrades had taken. Ready to fight, he watched the drones closing in. Time seemed to slow down, microseconds becoming minutes, then hours… "I never knew," he found himself saying to the empty air. "I never knew I was trapped; not until I was set free. But now my life isn't planned out for me anymore. My choices are my own." He chuckled. "How ironic that I should realize this now… just in time for me to find that I have no choice at all." He raised his whip, cannon charging for the first shot. "Good or evil, right or wrong, no matter what side I may be on, I am still… and will always be… a warrior." The drones were closing in and he snarled. "I am Galvatron, leader of the Decepticons, as my father made me, as I was meant to be. _You'll find me no easy prey, insects!_"

It seemed easy enough at first, shooting them down; but things quickly degenerated into an all-out desperate blitz as more and more took the places of those he felled, the air filling with drones. He was firing as fast as his cannon could manage and still they kept coming. His cannon was overheating, he could feel the pain of wires beginning to fuse, insulation melting… They were too close for him to use his cannon safely anyway. Wasting no time, he switched to using his whip and lashed out at those closest, taking out two or even three at a time, yet they still kept swarming in. His whip was literally flying now, cleaving the air over and over as he lashed out again and again, fear beginning to take hold. A single drone came around from the side and swiped one wing's razor edge against Galvatron's left arm, slicing through armor and severing a few cables, forcing him to recoil in pain, his whip retracting involuntarily. A snarl escaped him as he lashed out with his claws, grabbing the offending drone and ripping it in half, much as his father had done to the one that had dared to harm Zephyr. His cannon almost burned out, his whip disabled, the fight had degenerated into a hand-to-hand brawl. Part of him realized that he wouldn't last much longer, but he banished such thoughts. He'd last as long as he could. Several drones banded together into a tight group and charged, ramming into his chest with enough force to send him flying into the wall of the tunnel he'd been fighting so hard to protect. _"No!" _

His desperate howl of denial abruptly cut off as his head struck the wall hard enough to make his mind blank out and his body go limp, just for a moment but long enough for him to end up lying on his back. The sensation of bodies piling on top of him brought him back, followed swiftly by the sensation of something piercing his shoulder armor. He yelped in pain and tried to rise, only to find himself weighed down as he felt his armor be pierced in two more places, once in his chest and once in his side. His internal warning system sounded… his energon levels were dropping fast, way too fast… _They're draining me, _he thought even as he struggled to break free. Thrashing desperately, he managed to send a few flying, but they were replaced too quickly for him to take advantage of having thrown them off. He was pierced again, once in his upper arm and then again in his neck, and his internal warning system registered that the draining had quickened. _I'm going to die, _he realized even as his thoughts began to fade. His mind was slowing down, dim thoughts oozing sluggishly through the rapidly growing dark. _Only hope_… _I did_… _enough_… The pain was gone, replaced with a dull, vaguely pleasant warmth that seemed to radiate from his weakly fluctuating spark, and he just barely realized that his struggles were starting to slowly die away. His thoughts turned to his comrades. _Father_… _Did I_… _make you proud? _It felt to him as though he was rising above it all, looking down upon the squirming pile of drones that covered his fallen body even as feeble shudders eased off into the merciful silence of death. Drifting along the tunnel, he spied Megatron and Zephyr continuing their desperate sprint, and found himself drawn toward her. _Zephyr_… _All Spark_… _Grant me_… _your grace. _Her face turned toward where his presence seemed to hover invisibly on high, almost as if she was aware of him. _Do you think_… _I can be_… _forgiven?_ It seemed right to him somehow, to be drawn to her like he was. She _was_ the power that had given him life, after all. _Don't judge me_… _too harshly_… All else was fading, save for her. _Plea_…_se_… His last thought seemed to echo as he was swept away.

Having abruptly come to a screeching halt, Zephyr stared up at the ceiling. Having noticed that, Megatron stopped as well. "Zephyr, what's wrong?" She didn't so much as twitch. "Zephyr?" Walking closer, he laid a hand on her shoulder. "Megatron," she said in a soft, pain-filled voice as she turned to face him, "Galvatron is dead."

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REVIEWS, PLEASE!


	10. The All Spark's true nature

-1You were wondering how heading to the planet's core would save them from Unicron? Well, HERE'S how!

Bear with me, I have no idea how to handle this sort of stuff.

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"In that case we have to hurry," Megatron said eventually. "How far now?" Zephyr snapped out of being sad, realizing that there really wasn't any time for that. "It's just ahead. Right around that corner," she answered, pointing. Casting a quick glance behind them, they then took off running again. Rounding the corner, they paused, for the tunnel abruptly widened into a huge circular room, at the center of which there seemed to be a huge upraised pedestal. "Here," she said. Megatron looked around. He didn't see anything that could possibly be of any use to them. "This is _my_ part," Zephyr said. Moving with almost unnatural grace, she took to the air and slowly glided over to the pedestal. The minute her feet touched the metal she was frozen in place with a soft gasp, her power pouring out of her body to form a shining globe around her…

It was a spark. He'd seen enough of them in his days of killing to be able to recognize one on sight, but this one was almost bigger than even him, and the All Spark's blue fire hummed through it. It occurred to him that he now saw the All Spark's true nature, all its power, all its glory, freed from the shackles of a physical form. In its center a single form, a _human_ form, hung suspended… not Zephyr, but Sarah. Her hands were clasped as if in prayer and her head was bowed, apparently frozen in time like a fly in amber. The ground beneath his feet began to shake violently, almost throwing him to the ground. What was going on? It was then that his link to Zephyr, who had returned to being Sarah, opened up. The mind he felt on the other end of that link wasn't hers. No, it was utterly alien to him, many thousands of times stronger than anything he had ever dreamed of, making him feel like a puny, insignificant speck in comparison to its vastness. An ancient power thrilled through him and in that moment he saw through the eyes of another.

_It had been forever since he'd last done this, he realized. He'd slept for so long, having placed everything he had in the All Spark, but now, with the threat of Unicron looming, he had called that part of him back into himself. Transforming for the first time in untold eons, he could both hear and feel the awe and fear of his children as he, their god, revealed himself as the very world beneath their feet. Grinning, he met Unicron's gaze. "Hello, brother." Jade eyes narrowed with pure hatred. _"Primus," _he snarled._

Shocked awake by the realization of whose eyes he was seeing through, Megatron received one last sensory impression as the link closed, a momentary image of Unicron seeming to fade away, banished from their reality by the power of the All Spark and Primus. He now knew the All Spark's true nature, and the knowledge filled him with terror. _The All Spark is the essence of Primus himself, _he thought. _This planet _is _Primus._ It was all he could do not to fall to his knees. _What I've done_… _He'll destroy me for sure!_

As if Megatron hadn't been terrified enough, the human form suspended at the core of the colossal spark chose that moment to stir and open brilliant pale blue eyes.

He recoiled in unashamed fright as those cold eyes focused on him. Though her lips moved, the voice came from all around him, a voice speaking his name… Her eyes were fixed upon him, and he could feel that he had more than merely _her_ attention. The attention of a force more ancient than any possible imagining was focused upon him, seeming to look through him, weighing his deeds and judging his spark… "Your mad quest claimed the lives of many of my children and threatened their very existence. The war you started ravaged me and almost condemned me to oblivion." Megatron would have said something, but he thought it better to stay quiet and be given his inevitable judgment. There was a pause. "The girl speaks to me on your behalf…" Sarah's face looked perplexed even as Megatron looked up at her with an expression of wonder and hope. A smile came. "Saucy little thing… She says the ocean was enough…?" The tone in which the words were spoken indicated that Primus didn't know what Sarah was referring to. Megatron smiled at that and chuckled silently, at least until she spoke again. "She believes in you… So much so that she would willingly stand by you to face the same judgment, as if she herself had committed your crimes." Megatron's face fell, once again feeling grateful for the existence of both Sarah and Zephyr.

What she said next surprised him. "She says she would _die_ for you…" She seemed genuinely surprised at this. Megatron cringed a little at the slight distaste in that surprised voice. Her focus left him, attention turning inward. "She knows of your crimes. She says she has seen them…?" Her focus left again. "This girl is really something else! She just volunteered to take your place?!" Megatron's jaw almost dropped and he stared incredulously up at her, marveling at the depth of her love for him. She paused. "A moment, please." Her eyes closed. "She wishes to speak to you." Megatron slowly walked over to her and nodded. When her eyes opened, the pale blue glow in them was gone. She looked just as she had on the day she restored the planet, clothes and all. She smiled up at him. "I live only because you chose for me to do so. I live because you wished it. Megatron, my life belongs to _you_…" He looked at her with soft eyes, lifting a hand to brush against her cheek. "Sarah…" he whispered. She smiled wanly. "Take what is yours. I give it freely…" He shook his head. "I will not let you die for my crimes, Sarah," he said, wrapping his metal arms around her human form. She returned the embrace. "I told Galvatron no one owned me, but I was wrong… I belong to you." He just held her for a moment. "And I to you, my darling," he whispered to her gently.

Her body stiffened, the blue glow returning to her eyes even as she gazed at him. Just like that, she was gone again. He released her at that moment, knowing that she was possessed again. Her next few words seemed to make little sense. "I have seen all I needed to see." Megatron tilted his head in curiosity. She responded with a warm smile. "The darkness that was in you is gone now, replaced with a glorious light. I see now. This girl was your guiding light, the beckoning star in your night sky." Megatron nodded, wordlessly admitting the truth. Her voice grew stern. "Were it not for her deeds, I would now be counting you among the damned…" Megatron slowly nodded again. "I understand, great creator." Another look of surprise crossed her face. "She has spoken up in defense of another… Your son, Galvatron." Megatron could have fallen over from surprise at that point. Sarah smiled understandingly. "I see what she means. He truly could never have been anything other than what he was. He wasn't given a choice." Megatron hung his head. "Because I made him that way…" he started. Sarah smiled. "I will grant her request. On one condition…" Megatron looked up at her. "What's that?" The response was instantaneous. "He will be born again, as he should have been the first time." He looked at her for a moment, then nodded slowly, not saying a word.

She suddenly seemed to droop. "The girl grows weaker. I can't keep speaking to you through her." Megatron nodded again. "I understand, my creator." The smile that crossed her face was truly radiant in that moment. "I created the All Spark to pour forth my power freely upon this world, and this girl is doing well. All is as it should be, so I have completed what I awakened for. Now, I will return to my slumber, and in so doing return her to you." Megatron bowed, a move that seemed somewhat odd coming from one as proud as he had once been. "Thank you, oh great creator." The light flared one more time and Sarah was gone, once again replaced by Zephyr. Drifting down to the ground as gently as a falling leaf, she appeared to be out cold even as Megatron brought her into his arms and cradled her. A soft sigh escaped her and her eyes slowly opened to behold him smiling down at her. "Welcome back," he said gently. "That was odd," she had to admit. Her smile broadened. "Megatron, I'm… with child." He blinked for a moment, somewhat surprised at that, but then he hugged her tightly to him. "Oh Zephyr…"

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REVIEW, DAMMIT! I refuse to put up the next part until I get reviews on this part!


	11. What came after

-1And now for some… uh… weirdness.

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The drones were gone as well, this much was immediately obvious as the two began to walk back through the tunnel, but the damage they had done remained. The wrecks of demolished drones littered the ground, charred and shattered and torn apart… At the center of this chaos lay a single crumpled form, spilled energon staining shattered armor, lifeless eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, sprawled face up with broken limbs splayed… "Galvatron," Zephyr said sadly. Looking down, she laid a hand on her abdomen. "A second chance," she murmured to the new life she could almost _feel_ taking shape inside her. "…My son," she then said, almost unable to believe it. She was going to be a mother. Megatron wrapped his arms around her and drew her closer. "_Our_ son."

Arm in arm, they left the tunnel and its memories behind them, making mental notes to return later for Galvatron's body. Looking up, both of them agreed that, in that moment, the empty sky, now devoid of Unicron's presence, was the most beautiful and welcome sight they'd ever seen. "It's over," Zephyr sighed in relief. "Thanks to you," Megatron replied before kissing her deeply. Though the city itself stood between the two of them and the battlefield where Autobots and Decepticons alike had fought Unicron's hordes, they could still hear the combined joyous shouts of both armies. Jets were flying euphoric loops in the sky amid equally happy celebratory upward-aimed gunfire. The two pulled apart. "Let's go join them," she said. Perfectly synchronized, they both leapt skyward and transformed, then soared back to the battlefield they'd left what felt like hours before.

Evidently someone had broken out a previously unknown stash of energon, since the former battlefield was beginning to degenerate into something that resembled some sort of weird, drug-addled cross between a church service and a massive party. Off to the side, a smallish group of somewhat battered Autobots were engaged in singing hymns to Primus with several inebriated Decepticons singing a raucous, heavily improvised and extremely lewd chorus. A second, larger group of Decepticons kicked and blasted the remnants of shattered drones, caring little for the fact that their foes were already dead, shouting insults and obscenities all the while. Several jets from both sides lay in a messy pile, already sleeping it off and proving once again that most jet-types could get completely smashed just by inhaling fumes. Zephyr's human mind identified a snaking chain of wobbly soldiers as an extremely retarded conga line. The majority of both armies, however, had chosen to take seats in the middle of the battlefield and pass around containers of heavily spiked energon, swapping stories and drunken rants all the while.

"…'N thash when she hic kicked 'im in th' ball bearingsh," one Decepticon was saying. Zephyr recognized this as a retelling of what she had done to Galvatron in the early days of her captivity and giggled to herself. The storyteller saw her and waved clumsily, barely managing to avoid falling over. "'Eyyy, 's th' girl 'erself! Y' got y'self a buncha fansh 'mong ush 'Cons, after what y' did t' Lord Galv-- hic Galva-- hic…" Wobbling, he clumsily waved an arm dismissively concerning what he'd been saying earlier. "Eh, t' th' Pit wi' it. Sit wi' us n' have shome a' thish here energon. S' good if y' don' mind th' taste." She shook her head at the plastered Decepticon. "…More fer ush," he slurred in reply before seeming to forget about her completely.

Megatron wasn't surprised in the slightest when Optimus walked up from off to the side, not having participated in any of the impromptu festivities. "Whatever you left the battlefield to do, it worked. Megatron, somehow you and Zephyr…" The Decepticon interrupted him. "No, Optimus. I did nothing. It was all her," he said, gesturing toward Zephyr. "Optimus, the All Spark… It's the spark of Primus himself." Though he debated with himself, he decided to say nothing more on the matter. No, he wouldn't tell his brother about how he had been judged, and how his beloved had saved him again…

Optimus looked around. "Say… Where's Galvatron?" Zephyr looked down in sorrow. "He died holding off the drones, buying us enough time to reach the core." A wan smile took shape as she laid a hand on her abdomen. "Primus rewarded him, though. He has a second chance now, a chance at a normal life." It took a moment, but Optimus caught her implication. "Wait. You mean you're…" Megatron was beaming now, full of joy and pride, but not nearly as much as Zephyr as she answered his unfinished question. "Optimus, how do you feel about the prospect of being an uncle?"

A Decepticon walked up from the side. Unlike most of his kin, he'd stayed sober. "Did I hear you right? Lord Galvatron is… dead?" Zephyr nodded. "…Yes. He protected me from the drones long enough to awaken Primus." The Decepticon looked at her. "Our leader gave his life to save us all…" She nodded. "…My name's Fistpounder. I'm technically the highest-ranking officer here, seeing as Galvatron's dead and everybody else is cratered, and I think I speak for everyone when I say we make better allies than enemies. And given the fact that we now know that we have outside threats to worry about, I'd say we've got bigger concerns than this war we've got going. Besides, most of us still consider Megatron our leader anyway. What would you say to a peace treaty?"

Thus ended the second part of the war. Though the two sides no longer fought, there were still those who resisted but they were few in number, and they largely settled for voluntary segregation, dwelling apart from the opposite faction. Though this initially seemed like a perfectly peaceful solution, Zephyr had her reservations. "Avoiding the problem doesn't actually _solve_ the problem. The issue's going to come up again at some point."

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There's peace… for now. But Zephyr's right. The issue cannot help but come up again.

Keep reviewing. There's going to be CUTENESS shortly!


	12. A new start

-1Here's the cuteness I promised you.

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The passage of months saw Megatron pacing agitatedly outside the repair bay, just about wearing a groove in the floor with his restless movements. He would have much preferred to have been allowed to be with his beloved, but he knew he would only have been in the way. The time had come and he silently prayed for them both, Zephyr and his son. Minutes seemed to elongate into hours, hours becoming an eternity as he waited.

It felt like forever and a half before Ratchet stepped out, a broad smile on his face. "It's done," he said. "You can go see her now." Megatron then practically trampled him. Lying stretched out flat on his back, literally seeing stars, Ratchet promptly made a resolution. "Next time, I get out of the way _before_ delivering the news…"

The lights were dimmed down slightly, but that didn't obscure his view of the bed Zephyr lay in, propped up since she lacked the strength to sit up on her own after what she'd been through, a small blanket-wrapped bundle cradled against her chest. Now that the moment had arrived, he didn't know what to do. "Zephyr…" Looking up, she managed a weary smile. "Hello there," she said in a weak voice. A moment later, she looked down at the bundle she held, even as he walked to her side. "Look, here's your daddy…" She moved the blanket slightly, and sheer awe filled Megatron's spark as a pair of little red eyes blinked up at him in sleepy curiosity. A tiny blue body nestled in Zephyr's arms, little claws clutching the blanket's hem. "Galvatron has indeed been reborn," he said. Wary of his own strength, Megatron hesitated to touch the child. "Don't worry," Zephyr reassured him. "Little Galvie's not nearly as delicate as he looks." He laid his hand upon the child's arm as the little one cooed happily, curling little claws around his father's much larger finger at the first opportunity and clinging tightly. "You're darn right he's not as delicate as he looks," Megatron said in all seriousness. "Have you felt this kid's grip?" Zephyr chuckled softly at this. "He takes after his daddy."

Just then, the child gave a squeaky little yawn. Noting this, Megatron moved to pull away. "You need to rest, Zephyr. Both of you." She nodded sleepily even as Galvie snuggled up and fell asleep on the spot. Zephyr herself wasn't too far behind her son in terms of falling asleep, leaving Megatron the only one awake. Rather than leave the room, he quietly took a seat next to the bed. Within minutes, he too was asleep.

Ratchet silently peeked in on the Lord High Protector as he rested alongside his wife and newborn son, taking a moment to marvel at it all, at how much Megatron had changed. The Decepticon had never been this happy or at peace in all Ratchet's memory, even before the war. For the first time in his life he was content with what he had, and had no desire to seek anything more. _What would have happened had he had someone like her from the start? Would he have even bothered with the war? _These questions and more ran through Ratchet's mind. He knew where Megatron would have been, where they _all_ would have been had she never existed at all. _Without her, Megatron would be dead_… _Just like our world, and our hope of continuing as a species. She's done so much for us_… Sorrow filled him as he thought back on when he'd met her, when they'd all met her, and realized just how much she'd sacrificed. _She gave up everything she had to help us. Her home, her family, her species, her very life_… _Would I have been able to adapt and find happiness had it been me in her place, living on an alien world, among alien beings, _as _an alien being, separated forever from everything I once knew and loved? Would any of us?_ Her bravery amazed him, now that he thought about it. She hadn't hesitated to give it all up for them, and for Megatron most of all. Suddenly he found himself praying for her. _Primus, she's done so much for us_… _If there's a way to pay her back somehow_… _She returned our home to us. Grant her the power to return to hers! _What happened next was utterly unexpected on so many levels, for a powerful yet gentle voice resounded in his mind, a voice he'd never heard before but which sounded vaguely familiar… Four words were spoken, directly to his mind. //**'It will be done.'**//

Zephyr dreamed, and in her dreams she rose high above the battlefield where Autobots and Decepticons had put aside their differences to fight as one. Soaring higher and higher, she looked toward the stars and saw something that filled her with unease. There appeared to be a… rift in the sky. Drawing closer, not of her own accord but seemingly being pulled toward it, she shivered inwardly at the sheer spark-freezing cold it seemed to radiate from its pitch-black depths. Closer and closer she came, until she felt something, some unseen presence in the rift's heart, become aware of her. An unmistakable sense of overwhelming evil filled her with stark terror. //**'This isn't over,'**// _Unicron's_ voice hissed in her mind. //**'Gods don't die.'**// It was then that she realized they hadn't won against Unicron after all. No, they had merely delayed him, buying themselves more time.

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Here's the end of this part.

ATTENTION EVERYBODY! THIS IS URGENT! I have three choices for the next installment, but I don't know what order to put them in. So I'm asking you guys for help.

Here are the three choices.

Shatterspark-- Unicron returns as an evil spirit and torments then possesses Zephyr, shattering her spark, driving the All Spark's power out of her body, and sending her deep into the depths of her own mind. Imprisoned in a world of dreams and memories, can she recover the shards of her spark and regain control of her body before Unicron kills her?

Full Circle-- A group of renegade Autobots abducts Megatron as revenge for his role in the war, taking him to a hidden location to be brutally tortured to death at their leisure. Can Zephyr find him in time to save him?

In Memory Lost-- The All Spark's power allows Zephyr to return to being human for a time, giving her the chance to return to Earth and visit her friends. While there, a terrible accident wipes her memory, leaving her wandering the streets of Mission City. Megatron and the other Autobots race to find her before Sector Seven does. Can she decipher the meaning of her visions and dodge both groups? Will she recover her memories of the first group in time to avoid capture by the second?

EITHER PM ME OR LEAVE A REVIEW! Or else I won't do ANYTHING!


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